Christiana, Yashar,
& John

Christiana Liberis is twenty-three years old and was born in Naples, Italy. She began violin and piano studies at the age of seven while living in Athens, Greece. At the age of fourteen, she became concertmistress of the New York Area All-State Orchestra. In 1996, she auditioned for and was accepted into the New York Youth Symphony ( 1996-2002 ). While a member of the NYYS, she gave performances at Carnegie Hall four times a year for six consecutive seasons performing as first violin under the baton of conductors such as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Mischa Santora, and Kurt Masur. She has received coaching and masterclasses from members of the Emerson, Tokyo, Orion, Guarnieri, Juilliard, Orpheus, Manhattan, Ying and Brentano String Quartets, among others. She has performed frequently throughout the tri-state area, having played in Weill Recital Hall, the Harvard Club, Greenwich House School of Music, National Arts Club, CAMI Hall, and the Rockefeller Estate. Christiana studied biology at Wellesley College for one year before transferring to S.U.N.Y. Purchase to pursue a degree in music. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Violin Performance, and a Performance Certificate degree in both violin and viola from the Purchase Conservatory of Music. She studied violin with Daniel Phillips and Peter Winograd, and viola with Ira Weller. She is currently pursuing her Master's Degree at Mannes, studying with Eugene Becker. In July of 2004, Christiana collaborated on the albums of Ricky Martin (soon to be released) and Delta Goodrem, whose single "Mistaken Identity" hit #1 on the billboard charts in Australia and the UK. Other work has included filming a PBS special for the pop opera group Amici Forever, which will be aired in May and June on WLIW. Christiana has been a Rockland County resident for ten years.

Yashar David Yaslowitz, was born in Suffern, New York and first received piano lessons at age eight. Formative studies were with Rockland County pianist-composer John Lampkin and Julie Jordan at the Juilliard Evening Division. He was awarded a Performing Arts Scholarship at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where he studied with David Westfall and Luiz de Moura Castro. He received his Bachelors degree in Piano Performance in 2000, and has since performed in masterclasses for internationally renowned pianists Vladimir Feltsman, Anne Schein, and Abbey Simon. Yashar was the recipient of the 2001 and 2003 George Bryant Scholarship Fund, granting him the opportunity to study organ with Anthony Newman. In May 2004, he completed his Masters degree in Piano Performance at the S.U.N.Y. Purchase Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of Marc Silverman. Recent performances include recitals in Memoriam of Frederic Chopin, a solo piano recital at St. Paul’s Festival of the Arts in Nyack, New York, and a collaborative presentation of Debussy’s Twelve Preludes with Nelly Van Bommel’s NOA Dance Ensemble. Yashar Yaslowitz is Vice-President and Program Director of the Hudson Valley Piano Club. He takes great pleasure in supporting his fellow, young musicians and sharing their gifts with the Rockland County community.

John Korczynski is 21 years old, and currently a Junior attending the Manhattan School of Music. He began the study of the piano at about age five, with his parents, and later studied with internationally acclaimed pianist, Dr. Ana Maria Trenchi de Bottazzi. John has competed in various competitions. He has participated in the Sussex County Music Foundation's Competition for the last six years and has won 1st prize in each of them. He participated in the First APPTA Annual International Audio Visual Competition and was awarded a Distinguished Honorary Mention in the A Category. In past years he has played in the National Piano Playing Auditions, sponsored by the American College of Musicians. John has played in recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and Cami Hall in NYC. He has participated in master classes with Seymour Bernstein. Additionally, he has played in the Leschetizky Association's concerts for gifted young people. Each spring, while John was in high school, he played in the Walter Engel Festival in Ridgewood, N.J. Six years ago he gave a joint recital with Heinz Hammerman at Seton Hall University and for the past two years played for fund raisers for Birth Haven in Newton, NJ. In the Summer of 1999, John was accepted into the Boston University Tanglewood Institute program and spent a portion of his summer studying and performing with other students in Lenox, Mass.